AO Warcry Exclusive - Interview with Marius Enge
AO Warcry recently had the opportunity to ask Marius Enge a few questions about the upcoming Anarchy Online expansion: Alien Invasion.
Warcry: How big is this alien invasion? in example : will it cover all of Rubi-Ka? and will it reach into the Shadowlands?
Marius: It will vary in size and intensity, the Aliens will run both small and large scale attacks. I guess the players just have to wait and see =)
Warcry: Any plans for new character professions or breeds with this expansion?
Marius: No, there will not be any new playable professions or breeds in the Alien Invasion.
Warcry: Will we finally be seeing new Rubi-Ka outdoor playfield zones with this expansion?
Marius: We haven't planned any new playfields for "Alien Invasion". That said, the existing playfields will see a great change with new cities popping up around the face of the planet. We are looking into adding more playfields in future expansion though.
Warcry: Character apartments today are not used a lot even if they look nice. What incentives will players have for using the guild apartments?
Marius: For one times sakes we have the advantage of looking at other games and what they have done. In my personal opinion housing seems to be a problem child for everyone who has tried so far, and this enables us to learn from the pros and cons in other titles.
We plan to have several incentives for the players to spend time in the organization headquarters, but I won't go into specific details at this stage since we are still experimenting with different ideas. As with the luxury apartments we are, of course, once again going for a great visual style. If you take a look at the released concept art you can even get am idea of the scope and size on some of the organization headquarters. Think skyscrapers, Sears style, with landing pads for flying vehicles on some of the biggest ones;)
Do know though that we are very careful when planning and implementing this aspect, and we know we will need to spend a lot of time on balancing to make it as fun as possible :)
Warcry: Where will the player towns fit in the already crowded Rubi-Ka real estate?
Marius: They will be "everywhere", based on pre-set locations defined by our world designers. Since Rubi-Ka is a gigantic and very diverse world I do not foresee any issues in regards to finding space for the new towns.
Warcry: Right now a lot of roleplayers complain there isn't much of a sense of "in-character" to actual gameplay in AO. Shadowlands improved this somewhat with the faction system. Are there any more steps that will be taken in this next expansion to make gameplay fit closer to the established storyline?
Marius: I would have to disagree somewhat, because in my honest opinion Anarchy Online is, not maybe, but it IS, one of the best MMO's out there when it comes to possibilities for roleplayers.
I believe that Alien Invasion will further increase the options for roleplayers since the planet is being attacked by outsiders, so I foresee many excellent possibilities for creative players. As with any game or hobby a lot of the responsibilities will be placed on the players themselves, but we are making sure we do our best to create an interesting playing field which enables roleplaying activities.
Warcry: Is it possible to have an organization headquarter and not control a town?
Marius: To force city running upon the players is something I hardly would do, so as with lots of other aspects of AO you can take a very active role, or have a more withdrawn stance when it comes to the town aspect.
Warcry: Will there be player controlled shops? and if so what will they be
like?
Marius: Yes, there will be player controlled shops. We are still toying around with several angles on what makes for the best execution, but the general idea is that the players will be able to have a outlet in one form or the other where they can sell their own items in an organized matter.
With the new tradeskill interface and search options in the shop interface I foresee that shopping in AO will become easier, more effective and more fun after the launch of Alien Invasion.
Warcry: Will any of the aliens be peaceful? willing to open trade, dialogue, and discuss peace?
Marius: We will reveal more about this closer to launch. As always, we need to keep some information so that the players can explore and find out for themselves. Wouldn't be any fun if we told it all, now would it? ;)
Warcry: Will there be more quests with this expansion? and if so what kind? for instance will they be faction aligned?
Marius: There will be more quests. There will not the quests like the major Shadowlands quests (big and epic) - but quests that will tell a story and reward you for performing certain tasks. We wish to have fun and involving quests that relate to all kind of players, both hardcore and casual.
Warcry: Bonus question: Do you drop phat lewt?
Marius: hehe .. I challenge you to find out =)
Thanks for the questions, and remember that you can try AO free for seven days. Just go to www.anarchy-online.com/tryout =)
AO Warcry thanks Funcom, Marius Enge and especially Jørgen Tharaldsen for this opportunity.
